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About the Author

Huma Imtiaz works as a journalist. Originally from Pakistan, she is currently based in Washington, DC and likes her cocktails with a dash of sarcasm. She can be contacted at huma[dot]imtiaz[at]gmail[dot]com

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Job no.1 is ”lets scrape the bottom of the worlds barrel and see if theres any muslim life still remaining.. oh there is? right.. scrub it out”

D*ckheads! W*nkers!!

They were days when atrocities happened and the world stopped. Nowadays in this fast paced life, there have been so many wars and atrocities, and many that are still ongoing yet the world moves on, wrapped in ourselves, were so immune to everything, were ignoring it and carrying on doing absolutely nothing! and the truth is we CANT do anything! we must be on something like.. muslim holocaust no. 114 by now..
And the classic ”divide and conquer” rule, its ALWAYS worked! as right now instead of becoming closer as a community we’re turning on each other.. ”ooh your a mullah” ”oooh.. your liberal.. lets have a tish-tish in the street!”

well, the thing is, any state, and its sitting government, is mandated to protect the interests of its citizens, in much the same way as any corporation is mandated to protect the interests of its shareholders.

the problem arises when citizens or shareholders are unable or unwilling to prevent actions that are actually not in their interests, but in the interests of a sub-section of them who wield power.

so, the majority of citizens might think that if their state bombs everything to smithereens they will be safer, and the majority of shareholders might think that if their board burns down more forests they will be richer. in that case, the state and the corporation should bomb and burn. of course, most people don’t think that way; it’s just that the state – and the corporation too, i guess – has proven itself to be an institution that is quite effortlessly hijacked.

so, if the us – or any other – government says it’s acting in the interests of its citizens, maybe someone should ask, “in the interests of how many citizens … the few hundreds in government or the millions outside it?”

How much are Pakistani’s lifes worth? Let’s see: with Iraq and Afghanistan as an example, we see that compensation offered to the relatives of collaterally damaged is the same as that offered for a destroyed car — atmost $2500 (vs $1.8 million for 9/11 victims) and that too if it is outrightmurder. Kids are worth only about $500. Renenber your own Pakistani government also pays one lac rupees (little less than $2000) to victims of different tragedies as compensation, setting a precedent.

Now compare that to say the victims of Lockerbie and WTC : Lockerbie victims’ famalies collected some $2.7 billion though they has sued for a lot more. That comes to a cool $10 million each ($2.7 billion / 270 no. of victims). WTC victims got some $1.8 million each.

Doing a simple calculation($10,000,000 / $2000), we come to the figure of one American/Anglosaxon life = 5000 Brownie lives…

Why should situation be any different? Stop asking for fighter planes. Stop asking for aid. Then nobody asks you to do their dirty job. Our worth is proportional to our skillset. What’s our per capita productivity when compared to american productivity? Lets not get into reasons why they are doing better. Even if we did, we will find valid reasons.
As long as they make more money, and we crave for it and willing to be paid for our services we will have to endure their view of world.
Do you think waiters at hotels like their job? Most probably they don’t. But that’s what they are capable of. Same is our case.
Instead of commenting here, why don’t you guys/gals make something to change the world order.
Sorry, my idea is not to offend you people.
It’s to restate the obvious. The weak have to endure. If they don’t like it, let them become strong. Self pity doesn’t take anybody anywhere.
Disclaimer: I don’t like western dominated world order. And I do my bit to change that.

Sreedhar, What exactly is this bit that you do?
In my knowledge we have very limited actions to take which might not even have any significant impact:
– Boycott Coca Cola? (and affiliates or all those corporate bigots with similar company ethics)
– Take to the streets/protest?
– Buy bootleg hollywood dvd’s..? (Yaaaayyy!)

Sajida,
I “chose” to remain in my country. I chose to do somethings that go beyond earning bread that hopefully will make somelives better (To whatever extent). That’s my bit.
When you say we have very lmited actions, you sound defeated. You are limited by your imagination and nothing else. And things you mentioned belong to category whose purpose isn’t obvious. For instance buying original/ bootleg Hollywood dvds will only further western culture. And protests by people like us are of ornamental value.
Probably manufacture some import substitute. Tutor some children. Try networking with similar minded individuals to spread your ideas. There are N number of things you can do to diminish american influence. (If you feel it’s bad, that is)
Yuck, this sounds like a lecture. Everybody has to discover for himself/herself the path.

That’s great actually, its not a lecture at all, You’ve raised some important points there and your right, However I think its maybe not so easy to shift back to Pak when im sortta 3rd generation here in britain, I did try, about 3 years ago to move back to Pakistan and contribute as best as I could, but things messed up really bad because of one individual and now I’m back here with my parents, Wont go into too much personal detail however I still wish to go back, I do love Pakistan, although its great here too, Pakistan has always felt like home.
And being ”western”? (hate that word) but I’m afraid thats what I am, Does’nt necessarily mean we have to compromise on religion, tradition & modesty and all other things dear and holy..
So for now, its boycott certain brands, stop visiting the cinema, buy bootleg dvd’s..totally gnaw at everyones consciences..? I can deal with that.. 😀

Actually, let me tell you why I keep mentioning ”boycott companies”, The only language the people of any power in USA speak is Money, money and money. They dont give a cr*p about humanity, ethics etc.. So if we want to send them a message, lets smack their economy! stop buying their products, using their services, no, they’re not ”bigger and better”.
Lets start buying alternatives, I know its tough, cause they’re sort of own almost everything anyway, but still.. lets at least TRY?